Second Chances
by AmberandAbsinthe
Summary: 17 year old Diana believes that everyone deserves a second chance. Unfortunately nobody else in her new neighborhood feels the same... at least not about Edward.


A Second Chance  
  
Authors Note: I wrote this a long while ago after watching Edward Scissorhands. I figured it would be a nice fic to get me started off in Fanfiction.Net. I don't own Edward; only Diana and Michael. I'm not getting any money for this either so it's not like anyone could have too much to sue me for.  
  
She was new in town. Diana had moved in almost on the winter breeze one afternoon to a quiet house in the neighborhood of Suburbia; a neighborhood with colored houses and cars and gossipy house wives with dogs. What was at the end of the peaceful neighborhood? A foreboding hill, covered with dead trees and dirt, atop which stood an old dilapidated mansion, falling apart due to years of neglect. The locals said it was haunted.  
  
Though she'd only been in town no more then a week, the house wives in the surrounding area set right to work on her. They're biggest concern? Diana was only 17 and had no parents. She supported herself on the paychecks provided by her work as an entertainer in an in-town club. Her job was to announce the acts, flirt and basically look cute for everyone there. There was good money in the business and nothing dirty about it.  
  
The next big thing that the wives explained was the history of the neighborhood; mentioning only a little (with a lot of prying) the history of the mansion. They told her it was haunted or that some strange creature lived up there. To get her mind off the mansion they then took her out shopping, helped her decorate, taught her dishes to cook and everything else they could possibly think of doing.  
  
Despite their valiant efforts to persuade her however, they weren't fooling Diana. She wasn't convinced for one second that they were telling the truth. Instead of prying however, she planned on investigating for herself.  
  
That day she decided on whim to go for a walk around the neighborhood. It was a sunny winter day and she looked out the window with a smile as she pulled her coat on. Happily she bounced out of her front door and locked it behind her. She took a deep breath and felt the cold air kiss her face lightly on it's passage around her. Her long blonde hair was held back in a high ponytail and usually flowed elegantly down below her waist but today the wind played with it. Diana laughed and twirled around before heading gleefully toward the main sidewalk to start her walk.  
  
Her walk was mostly a steady and upbeat pace until she came to the broken down beginning of the driveway to the mansion. It met at the street with a crumbling archway in which the gate's hinges had long since rusted off. Distracted, Diana ceased her trek and made an unscheduled turn towards the gate.  
  
She approached the crumbling stone with caution and touched it very lightly before withdrawing her hand. Curiously she looked up the twisted roadway that wound through the dead treed and led to the old house. She let out a little gasp of surprise as she saw a bit of movement from the grounds just before the entrance to the castle-like building. Before she could get a good look however someone grabbed her roughly by the wrist and pulled her into the street. As she turned toward the person who had just spun her about she caught a reflection from somewhere up near the building atop the hill.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?!" Demanded a stern voice. It was Michael, a member of her school who was (one of the many) interested in winning her favor.  
  
'Right now? Well right NOW I'm waiting for you to release me so I can regain circulation in my left hand..." She snapped sarcastically.  
  
"Oh." He released her almost mechanically.  
  
"What was that about?" Diana wondered as she rubbed her wrist.  
  
"Weren't you told not to go near that old place? It's dangerous! There's things up there... that shouldn't be aloud to exist here." Her stared up the hill with narrowed eyes.  
  
"I didn't GO there... I was standing at the base of the-"  
  
"It's still too close!" Michael hissed.  
  
"Well what's up there?"  
  
"...I can't tell you."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because it's too awful." Michael put an arm around her waist, making Diana uncomfortable and somewhat disgusted. "Come on babe, let's get you back home... everything will be taken care of..." He sounded somewhat distant and worried.  
  
What made her choose that night to make her venture she didn't know, all she knew was that it just felt like she should go that night. After Michael had dropped her off and she assured him (many times) that she would be fine on her own she sat down to think everything over. Though she knew it wasn't the best choice and was probably really dangerous she came to the decision that she would go up to that mysterious mansion.  
  
As night grew nearer and the sun began to set Diana got ready to go. She put on black leather pants and a long sleeved black velvet shirt. Carefully she tied her unruly platinum hair up into a more manageable plait. Finally she put on a worn black leather jacket. With a smirk at her reflection she left her home, locking it once more on her way out.  
  
It wasn't until she was about 400 yards from the entrance that she heard it. At first she wasn't sure what it was and had to stop to listen. There were many angry, hate filled voices... she could distinguish that much... but what about the other sounds. She heard metal... and lots of it... hitting the sidewalk- crushed against it almost. There were thuds and smacks and- Diana's emerald eyes widened, the sound of someone trying to call out for help. Without another thought Diana ran to the corner and stopped dead in her tracks.  
  
It was horrible. It seemed the entire neighborhood was there in the street. They all held what seemed to be weapons of some sort, knives, guns, bats, pipes... and they were all gathered in a large mob of a circle around something. A fight between two people...  
  
"Oh my-" Diana stopped herself before anyone could hear her. She simply stared in shock at what it was she was seeing. Michael was standing over someone, a baseball bat in hand. The man on the ground surprised Diana equally as much. He was pale, nearly white, with wind black hair going in every direction. Almost every inch of his body was wrapped in a leather body suit that seemed to be made out of if not covered with straps, belt buckles, hoops and everything else.  
  
It was his hands however that caught her attention. At first she thought he was holding knives but gasped in realization. They weren't knives he was holding in his hands- in fact, he didn't have hands. Instead of hands, the stranger had many pairs of long, sharp scissors. He could control their movement like fingers, but they weren't. They simply sliced back and forth like all scissors did, only he dictated their movement.  
  
Just then Michael kicked the man in the stomach, causing him the injured to cough out a bit of blood. Without thought he raised the pipe and prepared to resume beating the fallen creature before him mercilessly.  
  
"Stop!" Diana cried out and ran over, making her way through the stupefied mob to the even more dumbfounded Michael. She quickly stepped between him and his intended target.  
  
"Diana?!" Michael finally managed.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" The girl hissed in response, standing her ground firmly as she glared into the boys blue eyes.  
  
"I'm getting rid of that freak from the mansion! Step aside or you're going to get hurt!" He growled at her.  
  
"Why?! What did he ever do to you?" She questioned as she glanced back at the now nearly unconscious man.  
  
"He's a threat! Don't you see his hands?! He could kill us all!" Michael gestured wildly.  
  
"A threat?" Diana narrowed her eyes and before anyone could object she knelt beside the sprawled body on the ground. She looked at him and winced, he was bleeding and wounded all over and one of his scissors was cutting into his own arm. Ignoring the gasps and protests from those around her she moved closer and spoke to him. "Hello." She said gently.  
  
"H-Hello." The man coughed out.  
  
"My name is Diana, what's your name?" She continued.  
  
"Ed-Edward." He managed weakly.  
  
"Edward?" He nodded. "Okay Edward," she began, "I'm going to move you a bit so that you don't cut yourself anymore. Please don't move your hands without me guiding them or you could end up hurting the both of us." She directed. "Do you think you can do that?"  
  
"Y-Yes." He agreed.  
  
"Alright here goes..." Diana took a break and very gently moved him off of his scissors, pulling the hand out so that it was no where near his body. "Is that better?"  
  
"Yes. Thank you."  
  
"Your welcome..." She smiled and paused. "Excuse me for a moment Edward, I have some unfinished business to take care of." When he nodded she looked satisfied and turned to Michael and the rest of the audience.  
  
"What in the world-" Michael shook his head and raised the pipe, taking hold of Diana's arm with the other hand. "Get out of the way Diana and I'll end this-" He was cut off as Diana swiftly shook him off and lifted Edward's limp hand up, towards him.  
  
"If you touch either me or Edward again then I swear I will make you regret it." She hissed at him angrily. "Now everyone listen." She gazed around at everyone, "Because this is what's going to happen." She returned her eyes to the boy before her. "You all had no right to go up to his home and bring him down here, he wasn't hurting anyone! You had him outnumbered and beat him mercilessly with intent to KILL him. Now I am going to take Edward back up to his home and you are never to set foot on those ground again. You aren't going to touch him and you will leave him alone." She lowered the scissors and very carefully helped Edward to stand, gently supporting him while being sure to remain out of range of his scissors.  
  
"We'll just go up there again when you're not around." Michael smirked at her.  
  
"That's not gonna happen." Diana looked back as she started to lead Edward through the gates and up towards the mansion.  
  
"Why not?" Michael shot back.  
  
"Because I'm going to keep an eye on him." She replied before taking the injured Edward the rest of the way and through the door. As she brought him in she leaned him again the wall and locked the door securely. "Where's your room?"  
  
"Upstairs... you don't have to stay." Edward told her. He was careful to keep his hands away from her as she brought him through the dusty and cobweb filled interior and up the stairs. The lonely room with it's roof nearly all gone with a small and neglected bed that Edward slept in sent chills through Diana's body.  
  
"You live up here alone?" She asked.  
  
"Yes." Edward nodded. He followed Diana's instructions and carefully sat on the bed.  
  
"Well in that case I'm going to stay with you until you're all better... is that alright?" She questioned him as she approached, ready to tend his wounds. 


End file.
